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Video: Small business beware

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Thu, 23 Feb 2017 00:11:54 +0000Small business bewareconsumer, business beware, small, emailhttp://chic.clipsyndicate.com/video/playlist/12513/6799596?cpt=8&wpid=2637KY3 - KYTV>> steve: an ozarks business saved itself $1,900. perhaps your place of work can do the same thing. >> lisa: here's ashley reynolds with the business beware story. >> reporter: if you've ever worked on a government project, you know this website. it's known as the sam website or system for award management. it's a place where legit companies can register and bid for government projects. a plumbing business got an email stating their registration was about to expire. instead of paying the update fee, they called "contact ky3." >> they had my number, my sam id. that's why i thought the email was legitimate, but that is public record. >> reporter: leasa can spot a clogged email. >> it was misleading because they don't expire and cost anything. >> reporter: this is from a company called federal transaction services. they take care of your sam account. >> there's a cost for that so i thought, well, that's odd. >> reporter: very odd because, well, the registration process is free. yes, free. it says so right on the home page. >> you register one time and i did that a few years back, and then you just update your profile as it changes. >> reporter: she says it only took her about an hour to register. so just how much does federal transaction services want to charge you for an hour or two of work? "contact ky3" called. just to make sure i got this right, one year is $300, three years is 600, five years is $1,000? >> correct. >> reporter: federal transaction services, inc. has a b rating with the better business bureau. but look at this, there's also federal transaction services, it has nearly the same phone number. federal transaction services has a d rating. the operator told us both companies are connected. >> you want to spend every dime wisely in your business. you don't want to give money away to something that you can do yourself. >> reporter: always read the fine print. federal transaction services does say in that email you can do this registration yourself for free. "contact ky3" has covered similar business beware stories when it comes to copyright trademark and osha posters. third parties collect public information and want to charge you for something